Mr. Parviz Sayyad, playwright, director, producer and actor of theater and cinema, is the recipient of 2019 “The Norouz Award for Best Artist of the Year in Theater and Cinema. He
receives this award for the following reasons:
– For his tireless decades of efforts and a life dedicated to Iranian cinema and theater both in Iran and in exile
– For his life time of artistic and creative ingenious on behalf of Iranian cinema and theater with exceptional artistic standards
– For creating lasting characters in Iranian cinema and theater
– For commitment to art and paying special attention to artistic values
– For his devotion to human rights and not forgetting human rights violations in Iran, and its
reflection on simple and popular drama.
Bio
Parviz Sayyad is unquestionably one of the best known Iranian actors and comedians of the
pre-revolution era in Iran. Even today, decades after the Iranian revolution, Mr. Sayyad is still a household name among Iranians. He is a showman, actor, talented comedian, director, screenwriter and producer of many TV shows and Iranian cinema. One of the most memorable characters he has played was actually created by him. The character “Samad”, a naive innocent country-boy, mischievous with a heart-of-gold whose views of life around him are simple, plain and to the point. Samad through his childish take on life, hinted at political/cultural issues of the time. The character Samad has been compared with Chaplin’s Tramp, and as a result, Mr. Sayyad is often referred to as Charlie Chaplin of Iran.
His first film, the comedic Hasan Kachal (1970), or “Hasan the Bald”, is well remembered. He later gained more fame starring in one of the oldest Iranian TV series “;OKTAPUS” playing the role of a well-mannered, diplomatic yet sneaky and soft-spoken board member. However, his real cinematic break came with one of the most famous Iranian TV series “Sarkar Ostovar” when he created and played the role of “Samad”. After that, Sayyad went on to star in the famous “Samad” film series (somewhat reminiscent of the American “Ernest”series). His character, Samad (or Samad Agha, as he demanded others to call him), was a prominent comedic icon of Iran during the 1970s. His 1977 film Dead End was entered into the 10th Moscow International Film Festival.
